LATU ALIAS LATPRI Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant/accused has preferred this appeal being aggrieved by the judgment dated 10.5.1996 passed by IVth Additional Sessions Judge Jabalpur, in Sessions Trial No. 637/95, convicting the appellant under Section 304B of I.P.C. for RI 7 years. The facts giving rise to this appeal in short are that on dated 27.8.1995, on receiving the information from the informer, younger brother of the appellant namely; Kissu regarding unnatural death of Ujiyari Bai @ Bhuri Bai the wife of the appellant, an inquest report under Section 174 of Cr.P.C. (Ex. P./1), was registered at Police Station Bhedaghat, Jabalpur. In it's inquiry after preparing the spot map and the seizure memo of the articles found at the place of the incident, the Panchnama of the dead body (Ex. P./3) was prepared. The dead body of the deceased was sent to the hospital where autopsy was carried out. According to post-mortem report (Ex-P/7), the cause of death of Ujiyari Bai was found to be shock due to antemortem burn injuries. In further enquiry of the inquest, on interrogating the parents and the grand-mother of the deceased on establishing the prima facie circumstances of the offence of Sections 498A and 304B/ 34 of I.P.C. against the appellant and his mother Giraja Bai, the First Information Report was registered against them for such offence. The appellant and his mother were arrested. The interrogatory statements of the witnesses were recorded. On completion of the investigation, the appellant and his mother were charge-sheeted for the aforesaid offences.

(2.) After committing the case to the Sessions Court, on framing the charges against the appellant and his mother for the offence of Sections 498A and 304B of I.P.C., they abjured the guilt. On which, the trial was held. On appreciation the co-accused Giraja Bai, was acquitted from both the charges while, extending the acquittal to the appellant from the charge of Section 498A of I.P.C., he was held guilty for the offence under Section 304B of I.P.C. and was punished with the above mentioned punishment on which, the appellant has come to this Court with this appeal.

(3.) Shri Ravindranath Sahu, learned appearing counsel of the appellant after taking me through the record of the trial Court argued that on appreciation of available evidence after extending the acquittal to the appellant from the charge of Section 498A of I.P.C., he ought to have been acquitted by the trial Court from the charge of Section 304B of I.P.C. also. According to him, in the charge of Section 498A of I.P.C. the alleged act of the appellant regarding cruelty, harassment and torture towards the deceased Ujiyari Bai on account of demand of dowry or otherwise, were included, therefore, after holding that the prosecution has failed to prove such charge and acquitting the appellant from such charge he would not have been convicted under Section 304B of I.P.C. He further argued that keeping in view the material ingredients of Section 304B of I.P.C. and of Section 113B of the Evidence Act, if the impugned case is examined then, it is apparent that the prosecution has utterly failed to prove that subsequent to marriage of the deceased with the appellant till her death at any point of time, the appellant has committed any act of cruelty, harassment or torture towards her either oh account of demand of dowry or otherwise. In continuation he said that, on taking into consideration the evidence led by the prosecution as accepted in it's entirety even then, it could not be said that the deceased Ujiyari Bai, was subjected to any cruel treatment or harassment on account of demand of dowry by the appellant in her matrimonial home. In this respect, the prosecution had neither made any effort to interrogate any witness of the locality of the matrimonial home of the deceased or to examine any of them to prove such act of the appellant. By referring the deposition of the parents and grand-mother of the deceased namely; Chandu (PW-1), Kamla Bai (PW-2) and Chironjibai (PW-3), he argued that on going through the same, it is apparent that on the date of making the demand of Rs. 5000/- by the appellant in presence of his wife from the parents and grand-mother of the deceased on his visit their respective home or prior to it, or even subsequent to that, the deceased was never subjected to any cruelty or harassment on account of demand of any dowry in the matrimonial home, the same has not been proved by their testimonies. At this juncture, by referring the case diary statement of Kamla Bai (Ex. D/2), the counsel argued that in such interrogation, she stated only simple version that Ujiyari Bai was facing the problem in the matrimonial home because of some activity of her husband and mother-in-law but earlier, she was not subjected to any cruelty or harassment on account of demand of dowry. So, in the lack of such material ingredients of alleged cruelty in the interrogatory statement of the mother of the deceased mere on the basis of that the deceased being married with the appellant within seven years from the date of the alleged incident and died due to burn injuries in other word by unnatural death, the appellant's conviction could not be sustained. Unless all material ingredients of Section 304B of I.P.C. are proved by cogent and admissible evidence. It was also argued that in the available circumstances this possibility could not be ruled out that on refusing by the parents and grand-mother of the deceased to give them Rs. 5000/-, as per their demand of necessity and not dowry, the deceased became aggrieved from her parental family and after returning the matrimonial home, on such account, had committed the suicide. In continuation, he also argued that prosecution has not adduced any evidence showing that even after returning the deceased to her matrimonial home with the appellant till her death at any point of time she remained under any cruelty, harassment or torture of the appellant on account of dowry or otherwise. So, in such premises, it could not be said that soon before the death, the deceased was subjected to any type of cruelty on account of demand of dowry by the appellant. In such premises, prayed for extending the acquittal to the appellant by setting aside the impugned judgment of conviction by allowing this appeal.